A narrative approach to studying early career impressions of external auditors
Ivo De Loo
Nyenrode Business University
School of Accountancy and Controlling
Straatweg 25
3621 BG Breukelen
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 346 291 024
Fax: +31 346 291 250
E-mail: i.deloo@nyenrode.nl
Stuart Cooper
Aston Business School
Accounting & Finance Group
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Melina Manochin
Aston Business School
Accounting & Finance Group
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Abstract
In this paper, we put the view that identities can be expressed in and changed through texts. After
having explained why narrative analysis may be an interesting approach to study such texts, we
look at the socialization processes of two early career external auditors that have been articulated
in an interview context. Socialization processes will often involve tensions and struggles when
new recruits of audit firms feel they have to give up a sense of self-control. These tensions and
struggles may result in changes in one’s individual and/or collective identities. We indicate that
although many of the socialization processes that new recruits undergo seem to have remained
unchanged over the years, there may be subtle changes occurring in these processes, as suggested
by our narratives.
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Main outlines of the paper:
This paper looks at socialization aspects expressed by two early career external auditors in the
UK, to identify examples of identity regulation and identity work, by narrative analysis.
Although the research question is not clearly stated, we may set it out as: “How the individual
expression of collective identity tells us about what it means to be a professional auditor?”.
In this paper the authors assume that people have multiple identities that partly overlap: identity
is defined as a “highly dynamic process of being or becoming that is shaped together with
others” - a fluid, flexible and relational process. It is claimed that identities have a social
dimension that can be expressed and shaped in texts.
From there, authors recommend the use of narrative analysis to “study personal experience and
meaning in management and organizational settings”, to analyze significant events that take
place in the working life of individuals. A narrative is defined as a story of a particular event that
has already occurred, with an observable beginning and end. Authors assume that stories link
people in time and to events and create meaning, that identities are continuously formed and
changed through conversation and expressed in texts and that scholars should interpret and make
sense of these interpretations.
They choose to focus on the identities of external auditors at the start of their career, in a context
of a change of image from the dull and strict accountant to a more trendy, fun loving one (Jeacle
2008). Data collection is based on 13 semi-structured interviews, conducted in October 2007, to
evaluate an undergraduate management accounting course, to understand how far the course had
changed students’ view of the accounting profession. Two of these interviews are extracted to be
analyzed according to the narrative approach
The theoretical framework is inspired from the work of Alvesson & Willmott (2002), based on
two concepts: identity regulation (molding of collective identity) and identity work (individual
work to incorporate managerial discourses into narratives of self-identity). Authors apply it to
auditors to study how the significance placed on the group pressures individuals (identity
regulation) and how new recruits have to identify what it means to be a professional (identity
work).
Critical and constructive assessment:
The focus on socialization process of early career auditors in accounting firms is of high interest
in the current auditing field. Still, the paper clearly lacks conceptual clarity and empirical
content, which prevent the reader from understanding the connection between the research
question and the answer provided by the empirical study.
 Research question:
I think that authors should clarify their research question, in order to bring precisely to the fore
the issue and the main concepts used in the paper. Concepts such as “image”, “role”, or
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“identity” should be precisely defined and connected one to the other. In particular, I was a bit
confused by the linking of notions such as “identity” and “image”, or “collective identity” and
“individual identity”. This lack of rigor in defining main concepts blurs the issue the paper is
addressing.
 What is the contribution of the paper?
As the research question is not clearly specified, the contribution of the paper is difficult to
understand. Authors often claim they are facing a literature gap, while there is in fact a
substantial amount of existing work on the different issues they broach.
For example, on socialization of early career auditors, I suggest to go more in-depth in the work
of Anderson-Gough, Grey and Robson. Authors only quote two instances of their work, whereas
they could have also mentioned:
- Anderson-Gough, F., Grey, C., Robson, K. (1998). Work hard, play hard': An analysis of
organizational cliche in two accountancy practices. Organization 5 (4): 565.
- Anderson-Gough, F., Grey, C., Robson, K. (2000). In the name of the client: The service
ethic in two professional services firms. HUMAN RELATIONS-NEW YORK- 53 (9):
1151-1174.
- Anderson-Gough, F., Grey, C., Robson, K. (2001). Accounting professionals and the
accounting profession: Linking conduct and context. Accounting and Business Research
32 (1): 41-56.
- Anderson-Gough, F., Grey, C., Robson, K. (2005). “helping them to forget..”: The
organizational embedding of gender relations in public audit firms. Accounting,
Organizations and Society 30 (5): 469-490.
On the socialization of auditors, may I also suggest :
- Pentland, B. (1993). Getting comfortable with the numbers: Auditing and the microproduction of macro-order. Accounting, Organizations and Society 18 (7-8): 605-620.
- Power, M. (1991). Educating accountants: Towards a critical ethnography. Accounting,
Organizations and Society 16 (4): 333-353.
- Chatman, J. A. (1991). Matching people and organizations: Selection and socialization in
public accounting firms. Administrative Science Quarterly: 459-484.
- Fogarty, T. (1992). Organizational socialization in accounting firms: A theoretical
framework and agenda for future research. Accounting, Organizations and Society 17
(2): 129-149.
If authors definitely focus on the linking between organisational socialization and individual
identity for new entrants, the following could also be useful:
- Morrison, E. (2002). Newcomers' relationships: The role of social network ties during
socialization. Academy of Management Journal: 1149-1160.
- Reichers, A. E. (1987). An interactionist perspective on newcomer socialization rates.
The academy of management review 12 (2): 278-287.
The authors should state more precisely to what literature they contribute, and then identify the
real literature gap they deal with.
Besides, it seems that there is confusion between accountants and auditors. The “dull and boring”
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image of the bookkeepers seems to be outdated in the auditing profession now. Perhaps this point
needs to be clarified and more recent references need to be brought in. Is there a collective image
of what an auditor is? If so, how is this percolating inside companies or through institutions?
And to what extent does this image shape the individual identity of auditors?
 Empirical work:
I can only but regret a lack of empirical content in this paper. To answer the research question, I
think that more detailed data are required.
First, there is no explanation on why the population in question has been selected. In what way
these fragments of interviews are useful to answer the research question?
Second, I have serious doubts about the quality of the data collected. The second interview does
not even really fit the targeted population. Interviews are too short and strongly biased, which
could interfere with the validity and the quality of the results.
Moreover, the authors do not really specify what criteria they employ to constitute their sampling
and at no time aim at field saturation.
Conclusion
As far as I am concerned, I think that this paper has potential for a contribution to the auditing
field, especially with a focus on the impact of collective identity on individual new comers.
Hereafter is a reference that could be useful to build up the paper’s conceptual framework:
Alvesson, M., Lee Ashcraft, K., Thomas, R. (2008). Identity matters: Reflections on the
construction of identity scholarship in organization studies. Organization 15 (1): 5.
Studying this impact through narratives is an original methodology that could find its inspiration
in the work of Ricoeur on “narrative identities”.
Ricœur, P. (1985). Temps et récit. Tome iii. Le temps raconté.
However, in its current form, the paper still needs major work to clarify the research question, to
define main concepts and to position itself in the existing literature. For the moment, there are
too much ill-defined concepts, interfering with a lack of theoretical clarity. I think that the
authors should spend more time defining the concepts they use, explaining why they use them
and making these concepts relate in a more careful way.
Once this work is achieved, a more developed field study has to be led, to help answering to the
research question. Less biased and more diverse interviews need to be performed to bring more
details to help the readers understand the scientific reasoning of the paper.
In its current form, the inefficient connection between the theoretical and empirical work concurs
to disappointing data exploitation, putting too much emphasis on the methodology and the
narratives more than on the audit field and the identity of auditors.
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